WASHINGTON, DC – The American Clinical Laboratory Association has asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to delay implementation of a new market-based payment system by another year.

CMS is aware that labs have encountered technical challenges in reporting the data the agency needs to publish a fee schedule based on private payor rates and implement the Protecting Access to Medicare Act by Jan. 1, 2018, as planned. The agency is considering labs' request for an extension, according to an agency official.